BlackBerry goes high security for second try at tablets

BlackBerry’s SecuTablet on display at the CeBit tech show in Hanover, Germany, on Sunday.

By

BenDummett

TORONTO — BlackBerry Ltd. unveiled a new high-security tablet on Saturday as part of its continuing efforts to expand its base with business and government customers.

The new device, developed with Samsung Electronics Co. and International Business Machines Corp., marks the second time BlackBerry has tried to enter the tablet market. The company said it should be available as early as this summer.

In 2011 BlackBerry
BBRY, -1.30%
introduced the PlayBook tablet as part of the previous management’s attempt to compete with Apple Inc.
AAPL, -1.92%
Samsung
005930, -0.60%
and others in the consumer market. The PlayBook stumbled out of the gate, criticized as lacking core features, and the Canadian company ended up writing down hundreds of millions of dollars in unsold inventory.

BlackBerry commands little of the global mobile-device market, but businesses still consider it the gold standard of mobile security, a feature governments place a priority on to guard against hackers as they conduct more business over wireless networks.

BlackBerry’s Secusmart unit developed the new SecuTablet, based on Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S 10.5. It incorporates Secusmart’s encryption technology, which is already used by the German and Canadian governments, among others, to counter eavesdropping. IBM
IBM, -1.26%
technology allows the tablet to securely separate work applications from personal ones on the device.

The new tablet also underscores efforts by BlackBerry’s Chief Executive John Chen, who took the helm in November 2013, to try to reignite growth by acquiring new technology through niche acquisitions and by forming partnerships to gain access to a larger potential customer base.

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